[NBC] A woman played a "twisted prank" at a Pennsylvania grocery store Wednesday by purposely coughing on about $35,000 worth of food, which had to be thrown out, the supermarket said.
"Today was a very challenging day," Joe Fasula wrote on the Facebook page of the Gerrity's supermarket chain, which he co-owns.
"A woman, who the police know to be a chronic problem in the community," walked into the chain's Hanover Township store and "proceeded to purposely cough on our fresh produce, and a small section of our bakery, meat case and grocery," Fasula said. Authorities are working to get the woman tested for coronavirus, he said.
"While there is little doubt this woman was doing it as a very twisted prank ... we had no choice but to throw out all product she came in contact with," he said. "Working closely with the Hanover Township health inspector, we identified every area that she was in, we disposed of the product and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected everything."
Fasula wrote that supermarket staff estimated the value of the food to be "well over $35,000."
#5
Nah, take all these idiots, give them Ebola and test vaccines on them. They don't work, but a nice lingering death is what they are wishing on people, so lets give them that.
#7
Prank is gluing a fake spider on a spring and placing the rig in the utensil drawer, or pouring tobasco on the chocolate bar everyone keeps lifting.
This should be treated by boiling their feet and feeding them to the perp.
#8
#6 - just release their name to the local public. I'm sure they would think the "prank" hilarious and like to show their support in person. Cops stay away
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/27/2020 16:31 Comments ||
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[Mil.com] The two former U.S. Army soldiers met in Ukraine, where they joined the same far-right paramilitary group. After getting deported, they planned to take a boat from Miami to South America. They wanted to fight the socialist Venezuelan government and kill "communists."
That’s what Alex Zwiefelhofer told the FBI agent and police detectives who questioned him about the fatal shooting of a Florida couple in April 2018. Federal authorities believe Zwiefelhofer and fellow Army veteran Craig Lang arranged the deadly robbery of Serafin and Deana Lorenzo to finance the Venezuela trip.
Nearly two years after the killings, Zwiefelhofer, 22, is awaiting trial in Fort Myers, Florida, on federal charges punishable by a death sentence, while Lang, 29, faces the same charges as he fights his extradition from Ukraine, where he married a woman last year and is now under house arrest. One of his attorneys has said it could take years for the extradition case to be resolved.
In the U.S., authorities portray Lang and Zwiefelhofer as cold-blooded killers. In Ukraine, a defense lawyer blames the U.S. government for not doing more to help Lang and other veterans adapt to life off the battlefield.
"The man was just searching for a spot on the world map to catch a bullet and die," Lang's attorney, Dmytro Morhun, told The Associated Press. "But he has found a new life, a new love, a new family" in Ukraine, Morhun said.
Lang, a North Carolina native, was discharged from the Army in 2014. Zwiefelhofer, a Wisconsin native, was discharged in 2018 after going absent without leave in September 2016.
The two met in Ukraine in 2016. Zwiefelhofer told authorities that he and Lang joined Right Sector, an ultranationalist group fighting Russia-backed separatists. Right-wing volunteer battalions played a key role in the separatist conflict that erupted in 2014 in eastern Ukraine after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The fighting attracted thousands of volunteers from the U.S. and Europe. Some foreign combatants were driven by white supremacist ideology, but soldiers who served with Lang in Ukraine said they never heard him express any racist or extremist views.
#3
How fortunate that a variety of clever boffins of various sorts have come up with a variety of ways to stretch a fixed number of ventilators over double or more patients (see here), while waiting for more machines to be shipped in from various assembly lines that not long ago were mostly making things entirely unlike ventilators.
And, as always, could is not at all the same as will. After all, I could wake up in the morning with the body I had on my wedding day, and Fred could suddenly get back all his hair, but these things are not at all likely.
#9
Interesting this is being considered while also resisting the notion of fast tracking the malaria drug as cure for Covid-19. Really seems inconsistent.
#11
A doctor on cable news last night said they're nowhere near the point any reasonable medical professional would even be discussing this idea. I'm guessing a journalist asked someone a question and responded with the off-the cuff answer to create a story out of nothing.
[Hot Air] Desperate times, desperate measures. Anthony Fauci has been warning lately that we need to wait for clinical trials to know if hydroxychloroquine is effective against coronavirus, but there’s simply no time. New York City is in the thick of an outbreak right now. There’s anecdotal evidence from China and France that the drug helps. What’s more, the clinical trials are progressing slowly due to a (surprising) dearth of volunteers.
There are many thousands of patients in NYC right now clamoring for relief. Doctors have no answers. Hydroxychloroquine is already on the shelf as a treatment for rheumatological disorders so it’s safe for human consumption (in appropriate doses). It’s a cinch that doctors will administer it on nothing-to-lose "compassionate use" grounds. But if they’re going to do that, why not turn it into a true drug trial and start tracking the results systematically instead of just dosing it out haphazardly? You have thousands of "test subjects." If the drug is effective, it’s a gamechanger for the whole world. Let’s collect the data.
#1
But if they’re going to do that, why not turn it into a true drug trial and start tracking the results systematically instead of just dosing it out haphazardly? You have thousands of "test subjects." If the drug is effective, it’s a gamechanger for the whole world. Let’s collect the data.
Actually, there is no need too. You just compare the death rates with places that don't use quinine derivatives - a distributed clinical trial.
#3
"Experts have been brought in to make sure this trial fails gets the politically desired result..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 7:21 Comments ||
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#4
I suspect its being tried in other countries. Don't want your results to significantly mismatch those others find. Best way to protect yourself (and your organization) is to avoid 'fixing' the results.
#6
This drug, IIUC, has been used for many years, so I would think that all the possible downsides are well known and, since it is still in use, not so horrible.
What exactly are the "horrible" results anticipated by Fauci et.al. if they're not the ones mentioned by MM?
#7
Horrible results: "We didn't follow the proper procedure."
I've been taking the drug for 13 years, with no side effects. I just hope I get to keep taking it, and that the supply is not sucked up by NYC and hoarders.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/27/2020 8:32 Comments ||
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#8
What exactly are the "horrible" results anticipated by Fauci et.al. if they're not the ones mentioned by MM?
Horrible results:
1) the combination does not cure the patient or at least does not reduce symptoms to a non-deadly level, so that there is no change in the survived/died statistics versus those who were not treated with the combination, or
2) the combination actually makes things worse, and more patients die than would have if they had not been treated.
#9
So, the "If it saves one life" mantra does not apply in this case.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 9:45 Comments ||
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#10
The alternatives are pretty bad. Every hour you are on a ventilator your risk of fatality increases.
If it's safe to take (i.e. doesn't make things worse) then I see no downside. And there are LOTS of early reports of success including the NY doctor who claims to have personally treated 500 patients and seen every one recover.
#11
Both of these drugs are well known, and have been in use for decades. The major risk is QT prolongation, which can result in a fatal arrhythmia called Torsades de pointes, a type of ventricular tachycardia that can devolve into ventricular fibrillation and cause cardiac artrest. This simply requires closer monitoring of the cardiac rhythm via EKG and administration of beta blockers like propranalol.
The issue seems to be that its more effective given earlier in the infection, and the trial will be on people who are well into their infection cycle. If they want to truly test it, use it on high risk patients as soon as they are diagnosed, along with control cases that test positive but are low risk.
Posted by: Marilyn Tojo7566 ||
03/27/2020 10:58 Comments ||
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#12
If you give it to a large number of people some will feel the side effects, and for some tiny fraction the side effects will be dangerous/lethal. That's true for pretty much any drug. The question is, does it keep more people from dying?
And, of course, when is the best time to give it? Before symptoms, mild symptoms, severe? Maybe it helps mild cases from developing further, but it's too late when somebody needs a ventilator.
But reporters need dramatic cases.
Posted by: James ||
03/27/2020 12:15 Comments ||
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#13
Spreading False hope, false hope!
Oh, it's not Trump? Never mind.
#15
If both drugs have been in use for a long time, The major risk is QT prolongation, which can result in a fatal arrhythmia This major risk should be well measured and understood, true?
As a member of the higher risk demographic I'm getting a trifle pissed at all the dicking around about this.
Fauci is sounding more and more like a bureaucrat in the pay of some big Pharma outfit.
#18
I thought this experiment had begun last week based on the news reports.
Darn.
We needed to do that last week as deaths per day have continued to increase in the USA (a week ago fewer than 100/day, this week more than 200/day and today it will likely top 300.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/27/2020 17:10 Comments ||
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#19
Experiment? What the heck, it was approved for medical use in the United States in 1955...for other diseases. There must be a large database on the effects of HCQ on humans.
"The Seattle Police Officers Guild criticized Thursday night the recent decision of the local National Public Radio station’s decision to stop broadcasting the daily White House coronavirus task force briefings.
'In light of the recent decisions made by a public news affiliate, SPOG will be live streaming all the White House’s press COVID-19 briefings on our social media channels,” SPOG president Mike Solan said in a statement. 'This is not a time to play partisan politics. Seattle community members deserve the most up to date information during this crisis; this includes life saving medical information from our nation’s Surgeon General and top doctors.'"
[Federalist] British scientist Neil Ferguson ignited the world’s drastic response to the novel Wuhan coronavirus when he published the bombshell report predicting 2.2 million Americans and more than half a million Brits would be killed. After both the U.S. and U.K. governments effectively shut down their citizens and economies, Ferguson is walking back his doomsday scenarios. "We could ALL die. Then it would get worse!"
Ferguson’s report from Imperial College, which White House and other officials took seriously, said that if the U.S. and U.K. did not shut down for 18 months, and isolation measures were not taken, “we would expect a peak in mortality (daily deaths) to occur after approximately 3 months.” His “models” showed overflowing hospitals and ICU beds.
“For an uncontrolled epidemic, we predict critical care bed capacity would be exceeded as early as the second week in April, with an eventual peak in ICU or critical care bed demand that is over 30 times greater than the maximum supply in both countries,” the report reads.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, reportedly said the administration was particularly focused on the Imperial College report’s conclusion that entire households should stay in isolation for 14 days if any member suffered from COVID-19 symptoms.
But after tens of thousands of restaurants, bars, and businesses closed, Ferguson is now retracting his modeling, saying he feels “reasonably confident” our health care system can cope when the predicted peak of the epidemic arrives in a few weeks. Testifying before the U.K.’s parliamentary select committee on science and technology on Wednesday, Ferguson said he now predicts U.K. deaths from the disease will not exceed 20,000, and could be much lower.
#2
I thought we wanted scientists to adjust their models when they get more data.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
03/27/2020 1:27 Comments ||
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#3
Fitting the past 5 days data to a simple model projects all Americans will have gotten it and 5 million died from it by the end of April. Pick a different window, get a different projection.
#4
#2,#3 They all using SEIR model [1] (ripoff from Lotka–Volterra [2]), which is manifestly unrealistic.
At the very least:
Infection rate should be Beddington - DeAngelis [3].
And death rate should be density dependent - to account for limited medical resources.
1. https://jsxgraph.uni-bayreuth.de/wiki/index.php/Epidemiology:_The_SEIR_model
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotka%E2%80%93Volterra_equations
3. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmath/2013/826857/ Sorry, no wiki article
#10
As I understand it from a less histrionic article, the original model included several projections based on what was predicted to happen given certain conditions/actions. The doomsday projection was if nothing was done to stop the spread. The revised projection is based on actual actions taken and is, of course, much lower. It's called adjusting for the data, Federalist.
#16
#2 I thought we wanted scientists to adjust their models when they get more data
Some problems with the above: first, the inherent problems with the data inputs were well known when Neil Ferguson applied them in his model. For example, here's just one data problem of many, as noted recently by John Lee, a recently retired professor of pathology and former NHS consultant pathologist in the UK's Spectator:
There is a big difference between COVID-19 causing death, and COVID-19 being found in someone who died of other causes. Making COVID-19 notifiable might give the appearance of it causing increasing numbers of deaths, whether this is true or not. It might appear far more of a killer than flu, simply because of the way deaths are recorded.
And as grom pointed out, this particular model was a bad choice.
Another problem is seen in the use of the plural: "scientists."
Reports are that this extreme, doomsday forecast was the model relied upon by our elected leaders. Which other models were considered?
Did anyone consider the red flags raised by leading epidemiologists like Dr. John Ioannidis of Stanford?
#17
There's a daily growth rate that is manageable, and one that is not.
Unfortunately we don't know what the REAL growth rate is right now. Intense testing currently jacks up the numbers (and such the growth rate).
But if we assume that the number of infected is a lot higher, the death rate would drop. The virus is probaly ravaging Germany, France or the UK in equal percentages. But Germany has done more testing, therefore shows higher numbers and a death rate of currently 0.6%
Of course it remains to be seen how many deaths were actually caused by COVID-19. We will only know next year.
But German hospitals do expect a troublesome situation in 2 or 3 weeks. A friend of mine needs an operation and was told: Come right NOW while we still have capacities.
Unfortunately the Rumsfeld "unknown unknowns" apply here. The situation COULD be better than feared, but it could also be worse. Especially if we don't apply radical measures.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/27/2020 8:20 Comments ||
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#18
Ref #17: A friend of mine needs an operation....
Go ahead EC, take your doctor's advice and get that vasectomy reversal surgery. You own to the next generation of Rantburg viewers.
#20
That's a requirement, #8 grom. In fact, they'll vote 3 times per election. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/27/2020 10:51 Comments ||
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#21
#11 So how come the 'homeless' are not dropping like flies? See - the dog that didn't bark
The virus spreads person to person along networks. It was brought into the country by international travelers. How many jet setters hang out with street bums? Longer social network distance = later to get infected.
Tennessee cases(1203) deaths (6) Rate(0.5%)
U.S. cases (100,390) deaths(1,543) Rate(1.5%)
World cases(587,958) deaths (26,909) rate (4.6%)
Rates are case fatality rates.
If one were to calculate the death rate for COVID-19 over the entire population of the U.S., the death rate would be very low.
#27
*as a side, I did a search for Mr. Gillum, poorly, so only one article popped up. It was about his bi-lifestyle and how he was dating a male lobbyist.
The article was from 2018. The picture used is the now infamous picture of him on the boat with the 'escort'.
So here is your well connected person, engaging in risky behavior which includes pipe smoking (stop laughing) with poor judgement and impulse control. Even if they were thinking about such things, one pipe share or kiss and there it is. Now kid jiggalo, he goes where the money is, and also to his personal lovers.
I laugh and point at all the NY buttlickers, yet can't but wonder if it was a call for the escorts to the stars to cease clientelle and only lick the buttholes of those they know.
Up to 10 percent of recovered coronavirus patients test positive again
[NYPOST] As many as 10% of recovered coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... patients in China tested positive again after being discharged from the hospital, according to a report.
Doctors on the front lines of the outbreak in Wuhan, China ‐ where the virus emerged ‐ reported that between 3 and 10% of cured patients became reinfected with the illness, though it’s unclear whether they were contagious the second time, the South China Morning Post reported.
Tongji Hospital, which identified the first COVID-19 case, confirmed that five of 145 patients ‐ a little over 3% ‐ tested positive again in nucleic acid tests, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
In a post uploaded to the Gerrity’s Facebook page on Wednesday, Fasula says that a woman known in the Hanover Township area as a "chronic problem in the community" entered the Luzerne County store around 2:20 p.m. and proceeded to cough all over the produce section, as well as parts of the bakery, meat case and grocery.
The woman was removed from the store as quickly as possible by Gerrity’s employees, and Fasula says that he’s been in contact with the district attorney’s office, which will be "aggressively pursuing numerous charges" against the woman.
"We had no choice but to throw out all product she came in contact with," Fasula said. "Working closely with the Hanover Township health inspector, we identified every area that she was in, we disposed of the product and thoroughly cleaned and disinfected everything."
Fasula estimates that over $35,000 worth of goods will have to be thrown away. He added that he is "sick to his stomach" over the loss of the food.
"While it is always a shame when food is wasted, in these times when so many people are worried about the security of our food supply, it is even more disturbing," Fasula said.
The woman involved is not believed to be infected with COVID-19, but Fasula says that they "will make every effort to make sure that she is tested." Empirical proof that half of everybody is below average. And some are lower.
21-year-old who posted about not social distancing gets coronavirus
[NYPOST] A 21-year-old Tennessee woman who bragged on social media about not taking the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague) ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... outbreak seriously has been diagnosed with the deadly illness, according to a report.
Ireland Tate joked about not following instructions to stay home and practice social distancing amid the pandemic just days before she fell sick, news station WZTV reported.
In a social media video, the Nashville resident told her followers that she’s "aware that we’re supposed to be self-quarantining and social distancing" to "keep everyone safe" ‐ but that she wasn’t worried.
"Cool. I get it. I just don’t think that I’m going to get the virus," Tate said in the video.
But just days later, Tate found herself suffering from symptoms associated with the dangerous bug and tested positive.
"It feels like someone is sitting on my chest at all times," she said. "It’s really hard to breathe. I’ve coughed until my throat has bled."
Tate said she likely got the virus from a pal in her group of friends and she’s now warning other young people to stay home. And further proof.
BREAKING: UK reports 2,129 new cases of coronavirus and 113 new deaths, raising total to 11,658 cases and 578 dead https://t.co/47MXF0XUJ0
Justin Trudeau confirms report that the Unites States is considering stationing troops near the Canadian border. PM says Canada is speaking to American officials, says Canada's view is that the border should remain unmilitarized. https://t.co/0fcxurfJyq
Breaking: #China will not allow foreigners into the country after March 28th. All visas — including residence permits — will be suspended. It follows similar moves by countries around the world as borders close amid the #coronavirus pandemic. @NBCNews
Pentagon says coronavirus cases in military have quadrupled since last week
[FoxNews] The Pentagon said Thursday cases of the novel coronavirus have quadrupled in the U.S. military since last week, with more than 280 service members now infected around the world. Fox News has learned that as of Thursday, 280 members of the military, 62 contractors, 134 Defense Department civilians and 98 military dependents had tested positive for COVID-19.
Tokyo Sees Second Wave of Wuhan Flu
[JapanTimes] Japan responded early and aggressively to the first wave, with seemingly very good results. If that did not work, will anything? Or will it kill anyone it can kill, regardless of what we do?
Posted by: Fred ||
03/27/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
Up to 10 percent of recovered coronavirus patients test positive again
Taking into account the number of false positives, does this mean anything?
There are now about a half dozen different test devices in use in the USA. So you could test neg with one test and positive with another.
Also, there were a lot of the specific anti bodies that combat the virus in a patient's blood during the infection. It takes a while for this level to go down.
Have we tried reducing Raquel Welsh in size so she can investigate this in situ.
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/27/2020 8:49 Comments ||
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#4
#1 Up to 10 percent of recovered coronavirus patients test positive again
Taking into account the number of false positives, does this mean anything?
I suspect we'll be teasing information out of the available data for years trying to figure out what really happened. Early reports I've seen claimed a 14% reinfection rate and that the second time is far more dangerous. Also saw a report that the virus is able to infect the antibodies created to fight it. Spooky stuff, if true.
#5
Does CV-19 get transmitted via airborne routes? I heard no, maybe and yes. I have heard that it can be transmitted by droplets. Aren't droplets airborne?
Can the virus be transmitted via air currents? Our air currents generally flow from west to east. The Japanese, during WWII took advantage of this fact to send balloons with bombs (low tech and the effects not very predictable) in our direction. There is a fairly high incidence of CV-19 in the counties in Tennessee where the tornado occurred. How long can the virus remain active?
I posted an article a couple of days ago that tried to assure us that the virus didn't come out of some lab (I wasn’t thoroughly convinced but then I’m not a genetics or biological warfare guy). How can we be so certain? Can it be weaponized by hostile actors? I don't mean to be an alarmist, but the questions should be asked if we are ever going to find how to prevent, protect from and treat the virus. Maybe these questions are being researched by our scientists.
[Yahoo] NEW YORK - At least one New York hospital has begun putting two patients on a single ventilator machine, an experimental crisis-mode protocol some doctors worry is too risky but others deemed necessary as the coronavirus outbreak strains medical resources.
The coronavirus causes a respiratory illness called COVID-19 that in severe cases can ravage the lungs. It has killed at least 281 people over a few weeks in New York City, which is struggling with one of the largest caseloads in the world at nearly 22,000 confirmed cases.
A tool of last resort that involves threading a tube down a patient's windpipe, a mechanical ventilator can sustain a person who can no longer breathe unaided. The city only has a few thousand and is trying to find tens of thousands more.
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration, which regulates medical device manufacturers, gave emergency authorization on Tuesday allowing ventilators to be modified using a splitter tube to serve multiple COVID-19 patients, though manufacturers still must share safety information with regulators.
[Jpost] As the coronvirus continues to intensify, and hospitals around the world struggle to find enough equipment, an emergency physician is seen explaining how modify one ventilator to be used for up to four patients in a video published by the Daily Mail.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care providers are struggling with the situation where they may have more than one patient needing ventilation, and not enough ventilators to go around," Dr. Charlene Irvin Babkok.
The design is based off of a feasibility study that was published in 2006 in emergency medicine called a single ventilator from multiple simulated patients to meet disaster surge, in a joint study by Dr. Babkok another emergency physician Dr. Greg Namis.
The design is based off of equipment that can easily be found in emergency rooms and hospitals, accounting for the possibility of different equipment available to different hospitals.
In this design they use a 'T-tube' taken from an emergency respiration kit from an respiratory therapist's cart, as well as 22mm adapters making an 'H' formation. One end of the ventilation tube is hooked up to a port on each end of the small 'H' device, which is inserted into the one ventilator machine. The other ends of the tubes can then be hooked up to the patients. The H device may be halved, to only be used for two patients.
Despite only lung simulators being used in the study, and not real patients, the device was successfully used on patients during the Las Vegas mas shooting incident by Dr. Kevin Mannis. During the incident the hospital received an influx of patients needing respiratory therapy greater than the number of ventilators on hand. Dr. Mannis was able to successfully use the device for many hours before ventilators from outside sources were brought into the hospital.
The study did not cover the possibility of potential cross contamination risk, although they assumed it to be low given, "this is a one way circuit and the air only travels one way," however this has yet to be proven.
"If you envision this during a COVID-19 pandemic, everyone has the same infection, mitigating the concern for cross contamination," she notes.
The physician emphasizes that this is an off label use, and that the ventilators are designed for only one patient, "I hope that you don't need to use this, but you can never predict what's going to happen in a disaster."
It worked against the Spanish Flu in 2018, and against SARS in 2002, so no reason it shouldn’t work this time, too — another treatment to help us hold the line until vaccines come on line.
#2
Millions of older Americans choose to live in countries with lower cost of living and, as a consequence, lower life span.
Not to be confused with millions of Americans who choose to live in cities with higher cost of living, and as a consequence, lower life span. See - Baltimore.
#3
Where I live a bunch of older Americans have been more than happy to go back to their ranches and farms, shut the gates, and see what happens in a month.
#5
Where I live a bunch of older Americans have been more than happy to go back to their ranches and farms, shut the gates, and see what happens in a month.
#1
You know, if I were running a small/middle size engineering firm - I'd start thinking of the commercial possibilities in converting these respirators to something else. Because, for sure, there's going to be a huge surplus.
h/t Instapundit
[Reuters] - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus and is self isolating but will still lead the government’s response to the outbreak.
"Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus," Johnson said. "I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus."
Now Matt Hancock tests positive for coronavirus: Health Secretary confirms he has killer virus TOO - just over an hour after Boris Johnson revealed he has the disease
Boris Johnson announced that he has tested positive for coronavirus as the outbreak spreads across the UK
Prime Minister insisted he will still lead UK's response to the crisis thanks to 'wizardry of modern technology'
Mr Johnson took part in applause for NHS staff from Downing Street last night and was in Commons for PMQs
Bombshell news will raise fears that other politicians and senior officials will have been infected as well
The premier will self-isolate for seven days in his flat above No11 Downing Street and he will work from there
But No10 insisted no other ministers need to self-isolate despite guidance for whole households to do so
Mr Johnson's partner Carrie Symonds pregnant and thought to have been following guidance on self-isolation
If Chinese government authorities are to be believed, the new coronavirus thought to have originated within its city of Wuhan in 2019 has largely run its course in China and, contrary to worst-case estimates, only a few thousand people died from the COVID-19 disease.
Of course, the Chinese regime can't exactly be trusted completely as virtually all "official" information coming out of the country is carefully controlled propaganda designed to promote the Communist Party's preferred narratives, with information that reflects unfavorably on the regime often being suppressed or countered.
However, it appears that one particular piece of official information slipped past the censors that might contradict the "official" death toll from the coronavirus: an unfathomable and difficult-to-explain decline by about 21 million in the number of mobile phone users in China, according to The Epoch Times.
#8
My wife says we need to watch Chongqing carefully right now. Their party leadership was jailed and some executed in the last bit before Xi. They are angry... Which way will they pull?
When Xi made himself lifetime god emperor there were gun fights in the great hall of the people between Chongqing party and other party factions.
It looks like we may live in much more interesting times.
#10
/\ Well, if there is any validity to the WND article at #7, I can see why 3dc's wife could be on to something. Hope things are settling down in the UK. I'd still like to get over to the museum at RAF Duxford in the Fall.
BTW, I know an Agency headquartered in Maryland who might be able to confirm a 21 million cellie user reduction rather quickly. Just say'n.
How many Chicom leaders have been infected? Part of me has always wondered about the idea of this being a bio weapon used against the Chinese people by a Chinese government that didn't want to be torn apart in the streets.
#21
Toured China in 2008, before the Olympics but after a major quake. Was in Xian at a natural history museum when an aftershock hit. I didn't even feel it (and I lived in CA for 14 years) but the crowds started rushing for the exit doors. I was in the first hundred or so that exited and by the time we got to the outside courtyard, armed CCP soldiers had already blocked the access to the outside streets. We spent the next 45 minutes locked in the courtyard.
Point of this post is the CCP military doesn't staff huge bases off in the hinterland, but rather cluster mid sized outposts all over the cities, ready to respond on a moments notice. They can respond with very real non PC force quicker than most city PD's in the US.
When China falls, it will shatter quickly and violently.
#23
Always remember while the CCP cries it is just superstition , "The Mandate Of Heaven" and the loss of it is believed by an awful lot of Chinese.
The Corona Virus is being cited as Xi's loss of the "Mandate".
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative, "sending a strong message to nations that there will be consequences for supporting Chinese actions that undermine Taiwan," according to U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who introduced the bill last May.
#25
If you have you read many translated Chinese Web Novels with a modern setting you will notice: The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army is uniformly treated with far, far more respect than the CCP, industry or government.
As long as the PLA stays steady this will fade away. If not, then the Mandate Of Heaven will pass...
#27
I was in the first hundred or so that exited and by the time we got to the outside courtyard, armed CCP soldiers had already blocked the access to the outside streets.
I'm guessing that these were People's Armed Police, paramilitary gendarmes charged with suppressing riots and insurrections. No heavy weaponry (i.e. tanks and artillery), but mostly jeeps and AK's.
Point of this post is the CCP military doesn't staff huge bases off in the hinterland, but rather cluster mid sized outposts all over the cities, ready to respond on a moments notice. They can respond with very real non PC force quicker than most city PD's in the US.
A big part of Chinese revolts in the past has been local commanders deciding to make a bid for the throne. There's a lot of excessive overt servility masking bottomless personal ambition.
Xi Jinping came to power because the various Chinese factions thought of him as a toothless tiger and chose him as a compromise candidate. Then he bared his fangs and imprisoned a bunch of the people who put him in power. He needs to stay dictator for life. If he ever steps down, the only way he stays out of prison is by going into exile.
#28
Always remember while the CCP cries it is just superstition , "The Mandate Of Heaven" and the loss of it is believed by an awful lot of Chinese.
The Corona Virus is being cited as Xi's loss of the "Mandate".
It's not so much belief as an opening. Pandemics have kicked off a bunch of major revolts in the past, and ambitious men are wracking their brains for a way to exploit this opening. I don't blame them - any opportunity to turf a vile dictatorship that stomps on you at every opportunity is a good one.
HT to Wretchard on FB
[Asia Times] Despite vaunted self-reliance, report of Pyongyang's request for virus aid was predictable
North Korea, always proud of its founding ruler's policy of Juche, or self-reliance, has swallowed its pride and asked for help to handle the coronavirus, according to reports. The move was predictable.
Foreign aid is baked into its national DNA.
"Pyongyang has secretly asked for international help to increase coronavirus testing in North Korea as the pandemic threatens to cripple its fragile healthcare system," London's Financial Times reported in a story reported from Washington and Seoul.
"In private communications, officials have quietly sought urgent help from their international contacts over the past few weeks, according to several people familiar with the matter and a document seen by the Financial Times," the FT said.
This was really only a matter of time. Regardless of all the proud talk of Juche, the country was founded with massive aid from the Soviet Union. It industrialized and thrived, by developing-world standards, for three decades in large part thanks to the generosity of the USSR and other Communist-bloc countries.
Then, after the virtual demise of communism, it survived with the reduced help of Beijing, Moscow, the United Nations, various Western NGOs – and even, on occasion, deadly enemies South Korea and the United States.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/27/2020 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
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#1
Kimmie goes to the belly of the beast that started the whole rotten pandemic to beg for aid. Pretty bad.
Well, president Trump, we know who owns Kimmie now. He is owned by Ccp corp boss Xi. Thanks for nothing Chicoms.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2020 1:27 Comments ||
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#2
Luckily China is virus free and next door, let them help.
#1
Avoid hack vulnerability. Never download anything from CNET...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 9:05 Comments ||
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#2
My dentist sent me an unsolicited e-mail with an attachment (a .pdf "letter"). No, I called them first before opening the file... Never open an attachment that you were not expecting. unless you like getting trojan viruses on your PC, that is.
[SydneyMorningHerald] Chinese-backed company's mission to source Australian medical supplies.
As the coronavirus took hold in Wuhan earlier this year, staff from the Chinese government-backed global property giant Greenland Group were instructed to put their normal work on hold and source bulk supplies of essential medical items to ship back to China.
A whistleblower from the company has told the Herald it was a worldwide Greenland effort - and the Sydney office was no different, sourcing bulk supplies of surgical masks, thermometers, antibacterial wipes, hand sanitisers, gloves and Panadol for shipping.
The company even posted its efforts of packing pallets in the company’s Sydney headquarters on social media.
According to a company newsletter, the Greenland Group sourced 3 million protective masks, 700,000 hazmat suits and 500,000 pairs of protective gloves from "Australia, Canada, Turkey and other countries."
#1
"Just finished a very good conversation with President Xi of China. Discussed in great detail the CoronaVirus that is ravaging large parts of our Planet. China has been through much & has developed a strong understanding of the Virus. We are working closely together. Much respect!"
No comment
Posted by: European Conservative ||
03/27/2020 15:28 Comments ||
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#2
Trump is just issuing blather right now. He has a war going now, he will deal with Emperor Xi later.
Like when Seward wanted Pres. Lincoln to pick a fight with the British during our civil war over an incident at sea. "One war at a time," said the President.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2020 17:11 Comments ||
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#3
No comment
Heh. All y'all just don't get Trump. He can be over the top, but he is fair. You come at him, he'll come back at you hard. Play nice and he'll say nice things in return. It is very Jacksonian.
Trump and Winnie the Xi just had a conversation. I expect they talked about grownup things. Judging by that quote in #1, the conversation went well and Trump probably got something he wanted.
Trump *could* have called him a slant-eyed, bat-licking Chinaman which would have played well with his political base, but he didn't. Instead, it was "good conversation, working together, much respect." It was the grownup thing to do. Ask yourself, which one better serves America?
#4
A whistleblower from the company has told the Herald it was a worldwide Greenland effort - and the Sydney office was no different, sourcing bulk supplies of surgical masks, thermometers, antibacterial wipes, hand sanitisers, gloves and Panadol for shipping.
A buddy who lives in a very small Australian town near Sydney said busloads of Chinese have been coming through town buying up staples like TP, paper towels, wipes, sanitizers, etc. The cashiers in the local stores put a stop to it when they refused to sell to the hoarders.
Hot Air via Instapundit
Something new and timely from three economists who work for the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and MIT, respectively.
It’s possible that 1918 and 2020 are too apples-and-oranges for a study of the former to usefully guide the reality of the latter. 1918 was a wartime economy. Certain regional economic effects may have overlapped with the flu pandemic to create an illusion of causation when there was merely correlation. And if the Oxford model’s theory of coronavirus is correct, this bug is waaaaaaaaay less deadly than the Spanish flu was, which will heavily influence how draconian our countermeasures end up being.
The authors have considered those first two objections, though, along with several others and feel confident that social distancing isn’t an economy-killer. The disease is what kills the economy. If anything, "non-pharmaceutical interventions" (NPIs) like self-quarantine, reduced public gatherings, etc, helped cities recover more quickly economically by limiting the local human toll from the epidemic.It’s not an either/or choice between controlling the contagion and reviving the economy expeditiously. Do the first and the second will follow.
#3
Did I say you were the "people" I was talking about? I don't see that in the verbiage. I'm sure the notion came from somewhere else...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 7:24 Comments ||
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#4
Forever crisis will work out about as well as forever wars.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 7:26 Comments ||
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#5
I posted it.
MM, you're not stupid - why let preconceived notions (quarantine is a massive left-wing plot 😢) affect your judgment?
If you can't analyze the technical data - very few people can (including most so called experts)
look at the aspects you do understand.
Example: Israel has one of the most severe NPIs in the world - Bibi is a left-winger?
p.s. I'm also tired of the ceaseless clamor about "Covid stimulus package increases national debt"
(especially from people around here who, before that, complained about all the businesses going bankrupt, and all the people living from paycheck to paycheck starving)
(a) When you gotta spend money on essentials, you gotta spend money - it's like buying food.
(b) Who told you, you (USA) is not, eventually, going to default on its national debt - especially if, in the interim, you can get foreigners buy a lot of it?
#6
Well, it's being overdone in various locals. Here in Florida they are only asking me to stay six feet away from people I don't know. Can't say I have a problem with that. As for the spending, yes, it's necessary right now but coming on top of unnecessary spending during the last 40 years it's a problem in the long run. Maybe a social political model that recognized real problems will arise and we should be thrifty against this eventualities? Nahhh. That would be rational...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 8:06 Comments ||
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#7
Stuff you will be hearing Real Soon Now:
We have not spent nearly enough on this crisis.
We cannot blame the obvious cause of this crisis.
There can be no consequences for the obvious cause of this crisis.
The US cannot domestically solve it's manufacturing problems.
Thank God for the non-practitioner "experts" who didn't make it worse got us through this crisis.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 8:16 Comments ||
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#8
/\ New study concludes Chinese 'Horseshoe bat soup' has newly discovered medicinal properties.
#9
^ Bumped from the lifestyle pages to the front page of NYT because "timeliness..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 8:24 Comments ||
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#10
The Novel Coronavirus is the best thing happen to the World.
(a) Given how unprepared we were, imagine if it were something really serious like old style (starting 430 BC) plagues - all of Chinese origin, incidentally.
(b) An opportunity to kill Globalism and its most egregious aspect = China incorporated.
(c) Political/cultural consequences in USA.
(d) The two psycho-regimes playing with nukes: North Korea and Iran; are the hardest hit.
(e) Tremendous advances in bio-medical research & medical engineering - maybe, just maybe, some advances in actual pure research (which always pays up big) in immunology.
(f) Last, but not least, it saved Israel from pro-Arab government - or, at least, fourth elections.
As horrible as it sounds, this crisis might well be the thing that will finally, once and for all, end this nation's foolish policy of making our prosperity and security dependent on a hostile nation headed by the advanced world's shittiest government.
That decoupling would bring so many blessings to us in so many areas that it might well be worth all the grief.
The researchers’ initial testing of the ventilator has already been completed. The project actually used an old MIT project as its base, which allowed testing to move forward swiftly.
The ventilator has already been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for “Emergency Use Authorization.” Researchers hope this designation will allow the device to move through the bureaucratic approval process more quickly than usual. The device is already being tested on animals.
#16
#12 I'm not opposed to Manhattan Project-level focus and resources redirected away from stupid consumer tech startups and toward basic biomedical research.
Make the US the "medicine cabinet" of the world. End dependence on China for production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Bring it home.
#21
Tallest structure in the world 1918 - Eiffel Tower.
Population balance - Rural.
Population New York - about 5million today 8million.
Crossing the Atlantic - Lusitania vs. Dreamliner, shit one can fly from LA to Taiwan before a coal ship built proper pressure.
I'm all about hunkering down for a few more weeks to see what we have and how we can handle it, but there is no comparison
#22
#20 Here you are my hearty from Google Scholar
Eichenbaum, Martin, Sérgio Rebelo, and Mathias Trabandt. "The Macroeconomics of Epidemics." (2020).
You can't find it because it wasn't published yet.
However, it appears to be a ripoff from
Hatchett, R. J., Mecher, C. E., & Lipsitch, M. (2007). Public health interventions and epidemic intensity during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104(18), 7582-7587. (you can get a PDF of that one from G-Scholar)
Excerpt: We obtained data on the timing of 19 classes of NPI in 17 U.S. cities during the 1918 pandemic and tested the hypothesis that early implementation of multiple interventions was associated with reduced disease transmission. Consistent with this hypothesis, cities in which multiple interventions were implemented at an early phase of the epidemic had peak death rates 50% lower than those that did not and had less-steep epidemic curves. Cities in which multiple interventions were implemented at an early phase of the epidemic also showed a trend toward lower cumulative excess mortality, but the difference was smaller (20%) and less statistically significant than that for peak death rates
Also look at fig - 1
I also recommend
Brainerd, Elizabeth, and Mark V. Siegel. “The Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic.” CEPR Discussion Paper No. 3791, February 2003.
Exerpt: Controlling for numerous factors including initial income, density, human capital, climate, the sectoral composition of output, geography, and the legacy of slavery, the results indicate a large and robust positive effect of the influenza epidemic on per capita income growth across states during the 1920s.
Damn clever these totalitarians - going back in time to publish academic papers to fool real Freedom Lovers*
"To be free means to be responsible for your own actions" Robert Heinlein
[gCaptain]The global economy’s most abrupt and consequential shock in at least a generation is unfolding at ports and other hubs of international commerce as the U.S. and Europe struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The Great Recession, the Sept. 11 attacks, the 1973 oil embargo — none of these modern crises constricted trade flows as quickly and as sharply as the Covid-19 disease has.
Not even World War II delivered the kind of sudden economic knockout that is paralyzing global supply chains and rendering almost silent the most bustling cities in the developed world as businesses close and consumers obey orders to stay at home.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2020 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1 views]
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#1
The entire point of gerbilism is to create the maximum number of middlemen and gummint regulators. It's the exact opposite of free trade.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/27/2020 6:21 Comments ||
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#2
The U.S. experienced an unprecedented 45% year-on-year slump in imports from China during the first two weeks of March, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Yes, imagine that. The American consumer is a bit put off by these contagion carrying, shithouse bat eating invaders threatening the lives of millions of Americans.
Sending our manufacturing base to the poor farm via communist slave labor is one thing, but global pandemic kill-offs are yet another.
#3
When this country gets through the pandemic, there has to be a day of reckoning with the Chicoms on their lying predatory way of dealing with us.
Then we need to break our dependence on such a corrupt system for our necessities.
The people who got us into this situation need to be exposed and held personally accountable.
There will be a major reset in shipping as trade between China and the US will greatly decrease. The shipping companies will have to adjust or die. We are going to have to get over our so called cheap goods addiction.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/27/2020 11:22 Comments ||
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[Ynet] - Two more Israelis died on Friday as a result of the coronavirus bringing the number of fatalities to 12ץ
An 80-year-old patient who was in critical condition who was suffering from underlying conditions has passed away in the Wolfson Hospital near Tel Aviv, and a 73-year-old man passed away earlier at the Rambam Hospital in Haifa. He too had underlying health conditions. His 71-year-old wife is also hospitalized and is described to be in moderate condition. The couple had recently returned from a vacation in Tenerife.
Michael Levitt surprised? (https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Nobel-laureate-Israel-will-have-no-more-than-ten-coronavirus-deaths-621407)
SSC via Instapundit
Multiple reports are coming in about new tests for SARS-nCoV-2 antibodies being developed and rushed into production:
• USA: Reuters dispatch
• From Belgium, De Standaard (in Dutch) reports on a homegrown antibody test that gives results in 15 minutes
• The UK is days away from rolling out "millions" of a similar test, developed at Oxford University, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Why is this a big deal? For one, antibody tests are way faster and easier to administer than the slow PCR testing for the virus itself. This is something that can be scaled up to entire populations of a region.
For another, if this confirms the theory of an Oxford epidemiologist that a substantial percentage of the UK population is already immune to the virus... That would completely transform the economic calculus. People who are immune could simply get tested, get a clean bill of health, and go back to work. This would go a long way to mitigating the economic damage (which ultimately filters down to everybody) of a prolonged lockdown. Now that the quarantine bought time to develop these things, we're golden.
You see, Lex & Co, either-or problems exist only in the ideological realm - not in the real world.
#1
Hmmmm.... For me - and maybe Lex - this is an unexpected development. Let's see if -
a.) it actually develops, in a timely fashion, and
b.) shows what everyone hopes it does.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/27/2020 16:06 Comments ||
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#2
The anti-body test seems more logical than just testing who already have symptoms. This could show who is already infected and still be asymptomatic.
Comedian Kathy Griffin continued to dramatize her stint at a hospital coronavirus isolation ward despite being sent home with an abdominal infection.
Griffin bashed the Trump administration when she revealed she was in a hospital Wednesday but could not get tested for COVID-19 "because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions." Though the 59-year-old entertainer showed none of the coronavirus symptoms and was sent home with a different diagnosis, she took to Twitter to claim she "still has no idea" whether she tested positive or negative for the virus.
In a series of tweets Thursday, Griffin quoted from a Los Angeles Times article on her experience, which she unfolded on social media earlier that day.
"Kathy Griffin might have been exposed to the coronavirus. Or she might not have. After a recent trip to urgent care and the emergency room while gravely ill, the comic wasn’t able to get tested," the tweet citing the Times story read.
Speaking to the newspaper by phone on Wednesday, Griffin revealed that she was back home and taking medication to treat an abdominal infection and "won’t know whether she’s turned the corner for a couple of days."
Griffin had called President Trump a liar Wednesday when she tweeted a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed wearing a mask, claiming she was sent to a "COVID-19 isolation ward in a major hospital ER" from an urgent care facility she had visited after showing "unbearably painful" symptoms.
"The hospital couldn’t test me for #coronavirus because of CDC (Pence task force) restrictions," she wrote, citing Vice President Mike Pence who leads the administration’s coronavirus response team and claiming Trump was "lying" about the great number of tests being conducted.
h/t Instapundit
[NYP] - BOSTON ‐ "Full House" actress Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and other prominent parents urged a judge Wednesday to dismiss charges against them in the college admissions bribery case, accusing prosecutors of "extraordinary" misconduct.
Defense attorneys for the famous couple and other parents still fighting the charges say the case cannot stand because investigators bullied their informant into lying and then concealed evidence that would bolster the parents’ claims of innocence.
"The extraordinary government misconduct presented in this case threatens grave harm to defendants and the integrity of this proceeding. That misconduct cannot be ignored," the lawyers wrote. Instapundit's comment:
YOU KNOW, I WONDER IF JURORS ARE GOING TO QUIT BELIEVING FBI TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE
#1
Embrace the power of "AND": They are scum and the FBI is crooked.
Has the FBI truly run out of worthwhile things to do (and should be disbanded) or are they so corrupted by SJW leftists that they can't do any real work?
#2
Hah! Of course this one of the "essential" cases that is still going on while the government has essentially shut down. What a load of overblown garbage.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[NBC] A woman played a "twisted prank" at a Pennsylvania grocery store Wednesday by purposely coughing on about $35,000 worth of food, which had to be thrown out, the supermarket said.
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
[PENNLIVE] According to Gerrity’s Supermarkets co-owner Joe Fasula, one woman’s attempt at a prank will cost the store over $35,000 worth of produce.
Time will tell. 
